First paragraph (this article has no abstract)

In Australia, December and January are part of the festive season. Summer is upon
us and there is the mad preparation for Christmas while catching up with friends and
family at barbecues, New Year's Eve parties and January beach holidays. At some social
event or other (including ones at my own research institute) I inevitably get asked
what I do. Responding with 'bioinformatics' is generally met with a blank stare or,
in some cases, a slight edge towards a nearby door. Therefore, recently I have been
working on tailoring my response so that at the end of an evening I still have people
who are, firstly, willing to talk to me and, secondly, have some insight into what
I do and why I find it interesting. Here I share a step-by-step guide that has helped
me to convey some concept of my work to people not involved in the field, or even
in science in general, when I am asked the question: 'So, what do you do?'